Croatia charges 8 ex-Yugoslav officers with war crimes

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) " A Croatian prosecutor has charged eight former Serb troop commanders with torture, rape, expulsion and killing of more than 100 civilians during fighting in Croatia in 1991-95.

The County Prosecutor's office in Split said Tuesday the suspects include former Yugoslav army officers and rebel Serb commanders. It says the suspects ordered attacks on civilian areas and failed to prevent crimes by the troops.

Clashes in Croatia erupted after the country declared independence from the Serb-led former Yugoslavia. Croatia's minority Serbs, backed by the Serb-led Yugoslav army, took control of large swaths of land and declared their own mini-state.

About 10,000 people were killed in the war and millions fled their homes before Croatia retook most of the territory in 1995 and a peace agreement was signed.

AP

This story has been automatically published from the Associated Press wire which uses US spellings